Height Objections Ignored : Seaport Village Parking Garage Approved by Port

Despite objections that it “will mar the integrity of the landscape,” the Board of Port Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a revised proposal for a new Seaport Village parking garage.

Richard Alexander Burt, the attorney for Seaport Village, said he hoped construction on the facility could begin by next spring.

Don Wood, a spokesman for Citizens Coordinate-Century III, a local urban planning group that is the leading critic of the project, conceded that Tuesday’s 6-0 vote was “a setback” and “a bitter disappointment” but not the final action.

Protests by Wood’s group, which served as an umbrella for various opponents of the parking garage, had argued that, as originally conceived, the structure protruded too far above ground and needed to be modified.

Garage Will Be Reduced

At Tuesday’s meeting, architect Hope presented drawings showing that the garage will be reduced by 1 1/2 floors, with one floor being constructed underground. Hope said the building will rise 22 1/2 feet from ground level to the top. The garage will border Kettner Boulevard on the west, Seaport Village on the south, a proposed Hyatt hotel on the east and a realigned Harbor Drive on the north.

Even so, Wood said the revised concept “still mars the integrity of the landscape, and although improved, will block visual and physical access from Harbor Drive to the bay.

“Our position has always been that the bayfront shouldn’t be wasted on parking. We’ve been fighting this for years. The bayfront was meant for harbor and public use and not as some massive parking garage. Their building--revised--is still the size of two football fields.”

Wood said the proposal is subject to review by the California Coastal Commission and the state attorney general’s office, which first must approve an environmental impact report. The findings of the report are then subject to appeal.

“They’re making noise about starting construction by spring,” Wood said, “but this is far from over. I don’t think we’ll see a resolution for a year and a half.”

Facility Violates Law

Wood said the facility violates the law.

“The law stipulates that the Coastal Commission is responsible for keeping projects from blocking the public’s access to the water, whether visually or physically,” he said. “The law mandates that we avoid excessive use of the bayfront for parking.”

He proposes that Seaport Village install an underground parking garage beneath the old police station at the corner of Kettner and Market. That space has been earmarked for Seaport Village expansion; Wood suggested that before any new buildings are built, a parking garage be built underneath to replace the one the Port Commissioners approved on Tuesday.

Lee Stein, the general manager of Seaport Village, did not attend Tuesday’s meeting, sending instead his architect and his attorney. Stein was unavailable for comment later in the day.

Replacing Existing Parking

Architect Hope said he views the project more in terms of replacing existing parking that forthcoming construction threatens to eliminate.

“We’ll lose parking because of the new Hyatt hotel, yet to be built,” he said. “We’ll lose parking because of the realignment of Harbor Drive and, of course, the convention center will chop off some parking.

“Perhaps the best way to look at this is that Seaport Village is by far the biggest attraction in San Diego. It draws between 5 million and 6 million people a year.

“Perhaps you should view us as heroes for doing this,” Hope said with a smile.